FireSmart Update
What the Experts Are Telling Us
In May the FireSmart Committee brought together community leaders and wildfire/forestry experts. Here are some highlights:
- Rick Arthur (forestry expert) described the history and life cycle of the Rockies eastern slopes forests and the natural role of fires on forest renewal and health. Rick noted that the Bragg Creek area forests are continuing to mature (last major fire was in 1919) and the fire hazard is increasing with fuels accumulation, aging and climate change.
- Dr. Jen Beverly (University of Alberta wildfire studies) presented a preliminary assessment of the wildfire hazard of the Bragg Creek area using exposure and pathway techniques. Jen’s work indicates that airborne embers present a high/ extreme risk to properties throughout the area and that wildfire can enter our community through multiple pathways. She will be seeking funding to conduct a more detailed assessment of our community to assist us with developing mitigation measures.
- Alan Westhaver (FireSmart expert) highlighted that 80-90% of property losses with wildfires are due to ignition from airborne embers. The 2016 Fort McMurray disaster had “ember blizzards” (up to 60 embers per square foot) in town. Alan found that FireSmarted homes had significantly higher survival rates – underscoring that FIRESMART WORKS and starts with simple home maintenance. Every small step towards becoming more FireSmart can make a difference.
- RVC Fire Chief Randy Smith discussed the learnings from the nearby May 2018 Champion Lake fire and constant improvement in emergency management practices. Chief Smith announced that an emergency evacuation procedure is being developed for the Bragg Creek area. An evacuation exercise similar to a recent one in Banff is also in the planning stages. Finally, RVC is collaborating with the Canadian Red Cross on a new Resilient Communities Program – more details to come.
Thank you to the community for getting involved in our recent Open House and BBQ and a special thank you to the BCCA, Bragg Creek Foods, Sugar Shack Bakery, Sanjel Energy Services and the volunteers and participants that helped with the event!
FireSmart Free, Confidential Home Assessments
A great starting point for planning FireSmart activities on your property is with a free, confidential home assessment – these can be requested by any home owner through Rocky View’s website under County Services / Fire & Emergency / FireSmart. These assessments are always voluntary and the results are left only with the home owner and not kept on file or shared with RVC or insurance companies. There is no obligation to do any of the suggested activities.
For more information about what a home assessment includes, pick up your free FireSmart brochure at the Moose Mountain General Store.
FireSmart Community Programs: Coming Up
This summer the FireSmart Committee will be introducing a FireSmart Canada program that helps individual neighbourhoods come together to reduce the risk of wildfire. Interested neighbourhoods will be asked to form a small board, a Fire Services professional will conduct an overall assessment of the neighbourhood and provide a report of actions the neighborhood can take to reduce their risk. Actions might include social events around vegetation clean-up (fuel reduction), voluntary home assessments or education.
We will be introducing this program as soon as we’ve put in place processes for managing the requests for training and funding.
Stay In the Loop
By the time you’re reading this, we should have news on our projects for this summer and fall: chipper weekends, FireSmart planning for Bragg Creek Provincial Park and vegetation management (fuel reduction) on municipal lands in the Hamlet. Stay up- to-date with the Greater Bragg Creek FireSmart Committee by following us on Facebook. Or sign up for our newsletter by sending an email to Michele at mlongo620@gmail.com.
